‘He was shot and died like a criminal’: Family, friends of man killed by police in Walnut Creek call for accountability

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Taun Hall, of Walnut Creek, left, the mother of Miles Hall, who was shot and killed by Walnut Creek police, listens to a speaker during a Walnut Creek City Council in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Tuesday, July 16, 2019. Hall and a large group of family and friends, urge for transparency in the investigation of the shooting. Hall, 23, died June 2, after two Walnut Creek police officers opened fire on him while responding to 911 calls after relatives and neighbors reported Hall was having a mental breakdown. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

WALNUT CREEK — Taun Hall had warned police about her 23-year-old son’s mental illness, so when she called them for help on June 2 because he was having a psychotic episode she didn’t imagine they would shoot him dead.

They assured her they knew about him and how to deal with the situation, “but on the day I called, he died,” Hall told the City Council on Tuesday at a meeting where close to 150 people gathered to urge justice for her son, Miles. “He was shot and died like a criminal.”

Family, friends and neighbors — mostly Walnut Creek residents — asked the City Council during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting to ensure the investigation into the death of Miles Hall is transparent and police are held accountable.

After Taun Hall and Miles’ grandmother called police on June 2 five officers responded to the area near the Hall home on Sandra Court and found Miles Hall carrying an object that appeared to be a crowbar (his family said later it was a garden tool). On nearby Arlene Lane, the officers found Hall still carrying the object and say they first tried to stop him by shooting non-lethal bean bags when he refused to set it down.

Body camera footage released by the police department shows Hall running on the street where the officers were. Police have said he charged at the officers, while his family and friends contend he was running away. Two of the officers fired shots, and Hall collapsed on the street.

Many who spoke at the meeting Tuesday questioned whether the use of force was necessary since Hall apparently did not threaten the officers and asked why police had not used deescalation tactics. Hall previously had been diagnosed as having schizoaffective disorder, which can cause delusions, hallucinations and disorganized speech, and his family had informed the police department of that, according to a lawsuit the family filed against the city last month.

“Five officers were well aware that he had a mental health challenge … so why is he dead?” asked Gigi Crowder, executive director of the Contra Costa County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “This should have been a medical response. … Are we properly training law enforcement to deal with this condition?”

Many who spoke at the meeting begged the same question, but some also urged the city council and staff, including police, to reckon with the role race played in the event.

Across the United States, black men are more likely to have fatal encounters with police than any other group, Crowder said, and people struggling with mental illness also have a high risk of dying that way. As a young mentally ill black man, Hall was at an even higher risk, she added.

Friends and neighbors also spoke of the trust and sense of safety they had lost in the community because of Hall’s shooting.

“Perhaps police felt threatened, but would the police have felt threatened if he was not black?” asked Walnut Creek resident Terry Penny, who also told the council of her children’s experience with overt racism growing up in the city. “Everyone has the right to feel safe and be safe in their community.”

“When I say we are scared … there are no words to describe how frightened I am every day,” Walnut Creek resident Tia Phillips said of raising her kids in the city. “This city has broken our trust.”

City council members and staff offered their condolences to Hall’s family and friends, and some stressed they were committed to seeing a transparent investigation. Because the comments were made during public session and the matter wasn’t placed on the agenda, the council could take no legal action.

“It is the city’s intent to be as open and responsive as possible,” and be “open to improvements,” City Manager Dan Buckshi said.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office is reviewing the case, which could take several months to complete.

Police Chief Tom Chaplin said he was taking everything expressed in the meeting “to heart” and is committed to transparency, pointing to his decision 18 months ago to get body cameras for his officers.

“You will have access to every shred of information with regard to reports, audio and video,” Chaplin told the family. As a father, Chaplin said, he was “devastated and heartbroken” by what happened to Hall.

John Burris, a well-known civil rights attorney who is representing the Hall family in their lawsuit against the police department, said the comments by city staff and the police chief were “encouraging, at least when it comes to transparency.”

After years of representing clients in similar cases, Burris said he believes the circumstances of Miles Hall’s case would justify some charges being brought from the district attorney’s office against the police officers involved.

Others who addressed the council focused on the kind of person Hall was.

Some said they remember him and his sister, Alexis, going to school with their kids or babysitting for them. The Halls, one friend said, are “pillars” of the community, and more than one person said they had moved to Walnut Creek at the urging of the Hall family.

Friend and Walnut Creek resident Kurtis Reese described Hall as an “inquisitive” young man who would ask endless questions about someone’s job. “He was a fantastic young man.”

It’s up to the city and the police department to be accountable and ensure this doesn’t happen again, Reese said.

“I’m especially not interested in whether or not law enforcement believes law enforcement had a clean kill,” he said. “I’m interested in what comes next.”

Annie Sciacca joined the Bay Area News Group in 2016 and covers Contra Costa County. She has written for Bay Area newspapers and magazines on topics including business, politics, economics, education, crime and public safety. Have a tip? Reach Annie at 925-943-8073 or by email at asciacca@bayareanewsgroup.com. You can also send her an encrypted text on Signal at 925-482-7958.

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